


Prankster Prophet

by Bookworm810



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen, Time Travel, character death of sorts
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-05-24
Updated: 2016-09-18
Packaged: 2018-01-26 07:46:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 13,736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1680374
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bookworm810/pseuds/Bookworm810
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fred wasn't meant to die during the war, nor were many of the others who lost their lives. Fed up with having her plans disrupted Fate decides it's time to take the direct approach. Still, maybe a notorious prankster wasn't the best choice of an avatar.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prolouge

DISCLAIMER: Harry Potter Belongs To J.K. Rowling and not to me. I make no profit off this story, so don’t sue. Really, don’t sue, it’ll be a waste of your time anyway seeing as I’m broke.

PROLOGUE

The final battel was over, Voldemort was defeated and the war was over. However, it was not without its price as those on Earth knew. Mothers grieved over lost children, wives over husbands, brothers over sisters, friends over friends. There was not a person in the wizarding world whom the war did not touch in some way, and many felt the price was too high. So many cursed Fate for placing such a large cost on their victory.

What they didn’t realise was that Fate herself was cursing the outcome of the war.

PP***PP***PP***PP

In a place that was no place, a young woman who looked barely out of her teens paced along a highly polished marble floor, repeatedly sending furious glances at a large table set up in middle of the room. The room itself was beautiful, yet also strange even by the liberal standards of the wizarding world. The floor was polished marble, as previously stated, as were the beautifully carved columns that filled the large space. There were several pieces of beautifully crafted furniture throughout the room, all seemingly coming from different cultures and times periods. There was a modern day designer couch sitting not far from a sixteenth century French desk with matching chair; and not too far from that a copper bench that would not be out of place in the private quarters of a noble woman in 2000 BC Egypt, and next to that some strange piece that was hard to place just what it was but seemed to come from some far in the future space age. Even stranger despite the fact that many of the pieces of furniture seemed to be genuine antiques, everything in the room seemed brand new. What was probably the strangest thing of all though were the many wide windows that sat in the wall. Every single one showed a beautiful view, yet everything single one was something completely different. A sandy white beach at sunset, a snowy mountain during the middle of the day, a clearing in a forest in the middle of the night. There was no order to any of it.

Yet the woman pacing paid no attention to any of this. She was far too used to it to be even the least bit curious anymore, if she ever was. And besides she had far too many important things to worry about right now. The woman had bright red hair, so vivid it would put the Weasley’s to shame. Her skin was a pale and smooth as the marble of the room surrounding her, and her features were so perfect they were almost inhuman. Her eyes were the most dramatic part of her, for depending on how the light hit them they seemed to be all the colours of the rainbow. The woman in question was in fact not a woman at all. She was so much more. She was Fate.

Yes, Fate. The Fate. And Fate was not having a good decade. 

All her carefully ordered plans, all her lovely pre-decided outcomes were falling to bits around her. Bloody wizards, did they have to meddle in everything? She never should have released that prophecy, it was what had started this whole mess. Yes, Harry Potter was meant to defeat Voldemort, and he did, but did he have to make such a mess doing it? Not that she blamed Harry of course, the poor dear did the best he could with what he had been given. But really, between Voldemort taking such extreme measures to stop his own destiny, and that old fool Dumbledore and his I-know-best-about-everything-and-everyone-must-do-exactly-as-I-say-even-when-I-have-no-idea-whats-going-on attitude it was no wonder things got out of control.

And boy, did they ever get out of control! Hogwarts was half in ruins, the Ministry Of Magic was in shambles (not, Fate admitted, that that was anything new since that idiot Fudge took over. The idiots that followed weren’t much better either), relations between the different magical races were at an all time low, and hundreds were dead before their time. What a nightmare, and what was worse Fate knew that there was only one way to clean it up.

Fate sighed in disgust as she ran her hand through her hair once more and glared at the table in front of her again. It was a plain looking thing, a single blocky slab of wood with four equally blocky legs attached, boring and rather cheap looking when compared to the other magnificent items throughout the room. Yet it was in its own way the most important item in the room, or to be more precise what was on it was.. For it was this on table that Fate organised the destinies of mortals and planned out their lives. Not entirely of course, free will and all that, or else this mess she had got into would never have happened. Still, she did have a far amount of say in what happened on Earth. Most of the time. 

Set out in the centre of the table, surrounded by charts and piles of notebooks, was what looked like a giant game board with small yet expertly crafted figurines. The game board changed regularly to reflect which society Fate was focusing on at that moment. At that moment the game board showed the British Wizarding World as it was at this point in time. The game board did not look healthy however, and many of the figurines were lying on their sides. These represented those recently fallen.

Fate sighed in regret as she looked almost sadly at those fallen pieces. This was not supposed to happen. Remus and Dora were supposed to be alive for years to come to raise Teddy themselves, and to give him a younger sister. Severus Snape was supposed to live beyond the battle, to go on to create a cure of Lycanthropy amongst other things, finally forgiving himself for past mistakes. Fred Weasley, along with his twin brother, was supposed to be creating prank items to terrorise teachers the world over for years to come. Collin Creevy was supposed to become a professional photographer and have two children with a lovely French witch he would have met the following year.

And it wasn’t just from this battle that people lost their lives too early. Sirius Black wasn’t supposed to fall through the veil, he was supposed to prove his innocence and help Harry Potter through the difficult final years to meet his destiny. Dumbledore, meddlesome old coot that he was, was supposed to survive the war only to die peacefully in his sleep two years later and finally be reunited with the parents and sister he had loved so much. Poor Dobby the house elf, he was supposed to live to the fullest and help prove to all the other poor abused house elves out there that they were meant for more than slavery. And don’t even get Fate started on all the poor Muggles who had lost their lives unfairly to that mad man and his equally crazy followers.

Fate barely registered the urge to growl out loud. This was nuts! She knew, despite her best efforts that she couldn’t always expect her plans to go the way she wanted too. That sometimes sadly people died before their time and there was nothing even she could do about it. She knew all of this, but this was ridiculous! Things hadn’t gotten this out of her control since that whole Pandora’s Box incident.

Well, Fate thought angrily, there was no way she was putting up with this anymore. There was no way she was letting that snake wannabe get away with messing with her lovely plans any more. Voldemort wanted a fight, well he was going to get one. He might have cheated by using the bloody Horcruxes, but she could cheat too and what’s more she could do it better! He wanted to defy death? Well she would defy time itself!

“But,” Fate mused out loud. “If I’m going to do this I’ll need some help. An Avatar. Someone who can act on the Mortal Plane in my name. Someone who will be in position to help me clean up this mess. Hmm, it’ll have to be someone who died, sending a living person back in time uses so much energy and I have the feeling I’m already going to be working flat out keeping everything on track this time. I’ll need all the power I can get. Now let us see, who to choose from?”

With a wave of her hand, the game board cleared itself of all but the fallen figurines, which instantly righted themselves and gathered in neat vows before her, like good little solders awaiting orders.

“Humm.” Fate said, looking the figurines over carefully. “Let’s see, it’ll have to be someone relatively close to Harry. I’ll need my Avatar in a position to act after all.” Instantly most of the figures disappeared. “And it’ll need to be someone who won’t raise suspicion from being too close to the ‘chosen one’. I can’t use someone like Snape after all, it would set off too many alarm bells in certain circles.” A few more figurines disappeared, and Fate carefully looked over the ones that were left.

“Well, Dumbledore might be good in the way that he can get people’s attention, but he’s a definite out.” Fate mused, looking at the long bearded figurine. “He’ll want to do everything his way and not listen to me at all.” The little Dumbleodore figurine instantly vanished.

“Sirius and Remus on the other hands, I would love to use.” Fate said, looking fondly at the two mini Marauders. “Such nice young men, despite all their pranks and jokes, and they’d do anything for little Harry. However, society would make it so hard from either of them to get close to him, at least at first. Such a pity.” Two more figures vanished. 

“Now Moody, well he would be a powerful weapon when combined with my knowledge. Too bad he’s such a paranoid nut case that no one would believe him. He’s out.” The little, very battered looking figurine was instantly gone. 

“Tonks would make such a good bodyguard with her Auror training, but it would be too hard to get her in place until too late, so she’s out.” Another figure, this one with ever changing hair colours, also disappeared. 

“And these younger students will have to go too, I’m afraid. I can’t use anyone younger than Harry, otherwise with his Hero Complex he’d try to protect them instead of the other way around.” The figurine that looked like Colin Creevy along with several others vanished.

There weren’t many figurines left, and Fate scowled at her remaining choices. 

“Damn it all.” Fate muttered. “I need someone brave, who’s not afraid to take risks others might consider crazy. Someone creative enough to think his or her way out of unusual circumstances. Someone who doesn’t mind breaking the rules when they get in their way. Someone who’ll bring their own brand of mayhem to offset all the over-complicated plans Dumbledore set forth in his misguided attempts to help the ‘greater good’. Someone… someone…” Fate trailed off as her gaze fell on one of the remaining figurines.

“No.” She said slowly. “No, I couldn’t use him. Could I?”


	2. Chapter 1

DISCLAIMER: Harry Potter Belongs To J.K. Rowling and not to me. I make no profit off this story, so don’t sue. Really, don’t sue, it’ll be a waste of your time anyway seeing as I’m broke.

CHAPTER 1

Fred Wealsey had come to a conclusion. Being dead sucked.

Fred wasn’t sure how long had passed since that stupid battle where he stupidly took his eyes off his stupid opponent and ended up getting beamed on his stupid head by that stupid heavy stone. Next thing he knew, Fred was stuck here, wherever here was. He was sure it wasn’t Heaven, but he was pretty sure it wasn’t Hell either although the way things were going he might change his mind about that before much longer.

But wherever he was right now, it was somewhere that Fred really didn’t want to be. He was essentially floating in the middle of nothing. Completely nothing. All around him was as expanse of pure white, as far as the eye could see. That was all there was. It could have gone on forever, or it could have stopped just out of his reach, Fred had no idea. It was impossible to tell. All he knew was that he was trapped in this white space, completely alone and with nothing else around to break up the all-uncompromising emptiness.

It was quite simply the most boring place Fred had ever been or imagined, so bad it actually beat out Binns History of Magic class. If Fred didn’t find a way out of here soon, he was sure he was going to go completely crazy.

If this is what death was like, then Fred really couldn’t blame so many wizards for becoming ghosts. He was rather wishing he had himself right now. And eternity of annoying little first years wandering around Hogwarts sounded really good right now. Then again, if it got him out of this bloody place, just about anything sounded good about now.

Just when Fred was trying to decide whether yelling again would be a good idea (he’d already tried it once, there was no answer not even an echo), when he finally noticed something. There was a small bluish light over there that he was sure wasn’t there before. A little, tiny blue-white light in a perfect circle which was shinning so brightly. Not the most exciting thing ever usually, but considering that it was the only thing around for him to look at… and look at that, it was getting bigger! Or was it coming closer. Yes, it seemed to be coming closer, and closer and too close! It was going to hit him… and suddenly everything went black.

There was no pain, at least that was a good thing, but now Fred couldn’t see anything at all. The black lasted for a few long moments, just long enough for Fred to start to feel that the white maybe wasn’t all that bad, when he could suddenly see again.

Looking around, Fred noticed right away that he was out of that white place, and in somewhere very strange, even to someone with his experience with the weird and wonderful. The very mismatched furniture, the even more mismatched windows, the overall all encompassing feeling of strangest that seemed to be infused into the very air. In all it was somewhere beyond even Fred’s wildest imaginations.

Then again, it wasn’t all white, so Fred was exactly going to complain.

“Hello Mr. Weasley.” A soft yet powerful voice said from behind him, and Fred span around to see what had to be the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. She looked almost too perfect too be human, even Fleur and her Veela cousins had nothing on this girl… or should she be called a woman? For some reason Fred just couldn’t put an age on her. Her hair was so red it almost looked like it was on fire, it certainly put his own ginger mop to shame. As for her eyes, Fred honestly couldn’t tell you what colour they were, as one moment he would think they were green, then he’s wonder if they were blue, then gold, then some other random colour. Either way they were certainly beautiful eyes, just like the rest of her.

Fred usually considered himself the kind of guy who rolled with the punches, but right now, between the room and this girl-slash-woman, he was definitely feeling somewhat overwhelmed.

“I’m sorry who had to stay in Limbo for so long, Mr. Weasley, or may I call you Fred?” The woman – he was defiantly going to think of her as a woman, she came across as far too wise and important for him to think of as a girl – said in her oddly powerful voice. “But I’m afraid with all the recent deaths in the wizarding world, the angels who are responsible for ferrying the departed souls of your people across have been rather overworked lately.”

Oh, so she was an angel, huh? Well that explained why she seemed far too perfect to be real.

“So, does this mean I’m moving on now, and won’t have to be stuck in that very, very, very boring place anymore?” Fred asked somewhat hesitantly. He was rather pleased with the idea of getting out of Limbo, as his apparent angel called it, but going to the afterlife meant that he was really dead. And though he’d been thinking about that since he got hit with that damn rock, it had always been a somewhat abstract thought. Now that he was confronted with the actual reality, he had to admit, to himself at least, that it was scaring the bejeebies out of him.

“Maybe, maybe not.” The angel said with an amused looking smile that somehow made her seem far more human. “Fred, do you know who I am?”

“An Angel?” Fred asked, suddenly not so sure.

If her smile had made her seem more human, if was nothing compared to the laugh she let out at that statement. Fred was rather grateful for that, as it made her seem far less overwhelming. She was still somewhat larger than life, but now at least was somewhat approachable and Fred no longer felt like he was committing some unforgivable sin simply for looking at her.

“Oh no, Fred.” She said with a smile. “Thank you for the compliment, but no. I am Fate. Yes, the Fate, Destiny, the one who spins the Wheel of Fortune and all that junk. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Uh, yeah, you too.” Fred muttered once he managed to pull up his jaw and get his voice back from the shock. What was he just thinking about not being so overwhelmed again?

“Now.” Fate said, looking amused by Fred’s reaction, though not surprised. “About why you’re here. Will you come over here and look at this please?” With that, Fate turned around gesturing to the table behind her. Somewhat apprehensively, Fred did so wondering what on in Merlin’s name Fate could possibly want to show him.

Whatever, it was Fred was expecting, it certainly wasn’t a complicated looking game board with hundreds of little figurines standing in neat rows.

“What?” Fred started too asked, looking with confused eyes at Fate hoping for an explanation.

The last thing Fred expected was for Fate to look at him with what could only be real grief on her face. “This, Fred, is how I watch and guide souls down on the Earth. Each of these little figures represents a soul, who I move to try and lead them to their destinies.”

“Now, please keep in mind that I am not all powerful, despite what some think. Everyone sentient being in the world has free will, and that free will stops me from controlling them completely. Like a game, I can only move one little figure a certain way in the hopes that they will follow my plans. Usually it works, but sometimes things go wrong.”

“Your people’s war with Voldemort, went wrong.” Fate concluded, looking very grim. “Very wrong. Every one of those figures you see before you are the souls of those who died before their destined time.”

Fred looked at the figurines again with a new understanding. There were so many of them. Looking closer, Fred was pretty sure he saw some that looked like Sirius, Remus, that crazy elf that followed Harry around, and even – and this one was a surprise – himself. Fortunately, Fred noted with relief, there didn’t seem to be any of his family represented there, Harry and Hermione included.

“You’re here now, because I hope to change that.”

With those words Fred’s head snapped back up to stare at Fate. There was a determined gleam in her eye that reminded Fred of someone but he couldn’t quite tell who. For some reason it made him feel both excited and fearful.

“How?” Fred asked, the excitement getting the better of him, and he was eager to hear the details.

Fate grinned, a look that Fred never would have imagined could be on a Deity’s face, but it sure made her seem like his kind of Deity. “By doing a complete do-over. I can send one soul back in time, with all the knowledge of what is to come along with a few upgrades provided by yours truly. Once there the soul, my new avatar, will get to work fixing everything that has been broken and messing up the plans of those who are trying to interfere with my plans. This whole mess wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t for the Snake Bastard and the Old Goat getting in the way and messing everything up.”

“You want me to go back?” Fred asked, seeing no other reason why he would be and be told this otherwise. “Why me?”

“There are a whole slue of reasons that make you the perfect, if somewhat unconventional, man for the job.” Fate said firmly. “First off, you’re in the prefect spot to act. Hogwarts is the epicentre for so much of what is to happen, and as a student you will be ideally positioned to act when the time is right. Two, you are close enough to the pivotal individual to influence him to do what needs to be done and to help him when he needs it. Dumbledore and old Snake-Face got one thing right, Harry Potter is needed to end everything. However, Dumbledore in his misguided attempts to preserve the ‘Greater Good’ messed up big time and left Harry woefully unprepared for most of what is to come. You will be responsible for fixing that by doing a few little things to make his life better. You know, get him out of his abusive home situation, get his innocent godfather out of prison, make sure he is properly trained and informed instead of locking him in a little box for protection then sending him out to fight a war single-handedly… that kind of thing. Really, I just don’t get what the hell Dumbledore was thinking with that plan. And don’t even get me started on the whole ‘last Horcrux’ thing.”

“But most importunately,” Fate said happily. “I want you because of who you are. An unmitigated prankster. Everywhere you go you cause chaos and mayhem, and that is exactly what this situation needs. Dumbledore has tried so hard to order everything so that it fits into his plan. I need you to get in there and mess up those plans so much that he’ll never be able to get them back up and running again. I want to keep everyone so distracted in the chaos that they won’t see the plans I, we’ve, created until it’s too late to stop them. I want absolutely everything at Hogwarts turned on its head, and Dumbledore not knowing what’s up or down. Serves him right for messing with me. So, are you in or what?”

Now Fred was sure he knew where he’d seen that look before. It was the same one he’d seen so many times in George’s eyes, that was in his own eyes, when they were planning one of their more elaborate pranks. Shrew the consequences and put everything on the line for a good laugh.

Oh hell yeah, this was his kind of Deity!

Fred grinned widely as he made a low and only somewhat mocking bow. “My lady, I am at your service.”

Fate grinned back. “Prefect.” She practically purred. “Now, all we have to worry about is how and when to send you back. Now let’s see.”

With that, Fate turned to look at the game board again, which Fred just now noticed was free of everything but his own little figure.

“I would love to send you back to your third year, Harry’s first, because that’s where Dumbledore really started to manipulate things. Well, actually he started that when Harry was a baby and he left him at the Durselys,” Fred noticed that Fate said their name with the same kind of distain Fred felt when he thought of Harry’s barn-animal-like relatives. “But you would be three years old at that time, so there isn’t much point sending you back that far as you would unfortunately wouldn’t be able to do anything. Anyway, back to Harry’s first year, as much as the poor boy was being manipulated, Dumbledore actually managed to get a couple of things right that year which I’m hesitant to mess with. Harry’s friendships with Ron and Hermione are critical to fulfilling his destiny, and as much as I hate to say it they likely would not have grown so strong so fast without Dumbles interference. Nothing draws people together like life and death after all. So, I think we’ll stick you in Harry’s second year, your forth. But when in the year will be best to fit you in, hmm.”

While Fate looked thoughtful, Fred was stuck on the thought that he’d been stuck with Lockhart for another year. Not particularly happy about that, the boy tried to make himself feel better about it by imagining all the pranks he and George could pull on the man.

“Ah, I know!” Fate said suddenly, bringing Fred out of a wonderful fantasy involving Lockhart’s cologne, an animal aphrodisiac, and Hagrid’s pet ‘Fluffy’. He didn’t pay too much attention though, it was such a great idea and would need careful planning to pull it off. “It’s prefect! After all, it’s been well documented in history that wizards and witches who survive near death experiences sometimes gain new powers so no one will question too hard when you suddenly start showing new skills.”

Well, Fate had Fred’s full attention now and not in a good way. “Near death experience, what are you talking about?”

Fate ignored him, as she continued to work out her plan out loud. “And lightening is such a wonderful element, so charged with natural magic! If you got hit by it, no one would be at all surprised if you started showing powers you didn’t before.”

“Lightening?! Hit by?! Fate, what are you talking about? What are you… Is that the Quidditch Pitch?”

Sure enough the game board had changed to show what could only be the Hogwarts Quidditch Pitch with a few figures in red robes flying around and what looked scarily like a real if tiny storm over the top of it.

“And even better, that silly Wood left multiple opportunities for you to be hit by making the team train in the rain so many times that year. Now all I have to do is increase the power of one of these storms to give it some big, powerful lightening bolts, and we’re all set!”

“No, we are not all set!” Fred yelped, trying to ignore how high pitched his voice had become. “What are you planning Fate? I don’t think I want to do this any more. What are you do…”

PP***PP***PP***PP

“…ing?” Fred finished suddenly realising that he was talking to himself. Not only that, but he realised that he was soaking wet, sitting on a broom and felt quite a bit smaller than he was sure he was a moment ago. Even worse, Fred could hear loud, angry sounding thunder booming what felt like right above his head.

Fred barely had time to think ‘Oh shit!” Before he suddenly felt a huge pain vibrate throughout his whole body and everything went black.


	3. Chapter 2

DISCLAIMER: Harry Potter Belongs To J.K. Rowling and not to me. I make no profit off this story, so don’t sue. Really, don’t sue, it’ll be a waste of your time anyway seeing as I’m broke.

CHAPTER 2

Everything hurt. 

That was the first thought that flashed through Fred’s mind as he started to come to. Everything, and he did mean everything, bloody hurt. So much in fact that it took a few moments for anything else to penetrate Fred's mind. After those few moments though, Fred started to notice other things, such as the thin slightly lumpy mattress he was lying on, and the unmistakeable smell of various health potions all around him, and the light unrelentingly hitting his closed eyelids. And while he wasn't Harry, who practically had his own bed in here, Fred had spent more than enough time in this place - mostly due to failed experimental potions and the like - to instantly recognise where he was without even opening his eyes. The Hogwarts infirmary.

A few seconds after that, Fred realised he recognised something else in the room. The voices he could hear just to his left.

"Oh, my baby! My poor baby! We could have lost him!" That was his mother's voice, and she was crying. Crying over him no doubt. He must have been really hurt, he hated upsetting her so much. He knew how much she had been afraid for all her children since the war had started. It must have been terrible for her to see him lying here like this.

"Now, now Molly dear. I know it's a shock, but Madame Pomfrey promised it looked and sounded much worse than it really is. Fred will be fine, just try to focus on that okay?" And that would be his father. The man was always so much more positive about things than mum was, and had spent much of the war trying to convince his wife and children that things would be okay in the end. Fred could always tell that he didn't quite believe that though, just as he could now tell that his father was in truth just as upset as his mother that he had been hurt. As always though, his father was trying to push his own feelings away in order to help his mother. Fred had always admired how his father did that, the man was so much stronger than most people gave him credit for.

Okay, so he was in the Hogwarts infirmary, he'd been badly hurt - still was hurt actually, couldn't Pomfrey up his pain potions or something? - and his parents were there waiting for him to wake up.

No doubt he was here for when that damn wall fell on top of him. Really, how stupid could he be taking his eyes off his opponent like that? Okay, so Percy may have told a joke for the first time in years, and a surprisingly good one at that, but come on! He was in the middle of a deadly battle for Merlin's sake! Comedy may be his way of life, but there was defiantly a limit to how far he should take it. He was lucky he hadn't died.

And speaking (well thinking anyway) of that battle, they must have won if his parents had the time to sit around talking about him. He knew that loved him of course, but if the battle was still going they would still be out there fighting as well. Especially since his siblings would no doubt still be fighting, and there was no way his parents would leave their children to fight on their own. His mother would no doubt hex the life out of anyone who suggested it. And if they lost the battle, well, chances were he wouldn't have to worry about where his parents and sibling were anymore. Chances were they'd all be together on the other side by now. Being the high blood traitors that they were, Fred seriously doubted that old Mouldywarts would have left them alive to rebel against him a second time if he'd won. So that was all good. Fred wondered how they'd won, had whatever ickle Harrykins and co been doing for the last year paid off? He really had to get up and find out. And find out what their loses were, he seriously doubted that their side would have got have got though the fight completely untouched. Now that he was thinking about it, he really hoped that wasn't the reason he couldn't hear his siblings right now. But if that was the case his parents would have to be more upset, right? Of course he was right, as strong as his parents were they weren't that strong. So, his siblings were probably helping with the clean up, or getting some sleep now that everything was over, or something. No reason to worry over what was probably nothing.

Just like that weird dream about dieing, meeting Fate and then being sent back in time was probably nothing. Just his subconscious wishing to do things differently or some rot like that. It was nothing and he should just put it out of his mind and focus on more important things. And at the moment, the most important thing Fred could think of was letting his parents know he was awake and finding out everything that had happened since he fell unconscious. 

And so with a monumental effort, Fred forced his eyes open. He then instantly snapped his eyes shut with a low groan as the far too bright lights of the infirmary blinded him, and gave him a whole new form of pain to deal with. Why the hell are the lights in the infirmary always so bright? Bloody sadistic medi-witch, must be her form of a joke and as a professional joker Fred could tell her it was not funny.

"Fred? Fred, baby are you awake? Oh Merlin, I was so worried about you. Quick, Arthur, get Madam Pomfrey!"

"No need, Molly, I'm right here. You gave us all quite a scare Mr. Weasley."

And there was another voice Fred knew without any prompting, Madam Pomfrey, the ever sadistic ruler of too bright light. Though hesitant to face said lights again so soon, Fred screwed up his Gryffindor courage to slowly open his eyes. After the first few painful moments, Fred was able to make out Pomfrey's form standing over him, waving her wand for what Fred guessed was some kind of diagnostic spell. She looked fairly relaxed, so Fred guessed that he must be well on the mend at this point, despite what the pain was trying to tell him. Actually, part of Fred noted, she looked too relaxed. He would have thought she'd be more flustered after treating everyone from such a big battle. If she was this calm, either their side had got off much lighter than expected, or he was out for longer than he thought. 

Or maybe she'd self medicated herself on calming potions or something. Though if that was the case, Fred would like to ask for another medi-witch.

Before Fred had a chance to voice this however, Pomfrey had stepped back slightly and another two people entered his line of sight. His mother beamed down on him, with tears still in her eyes, while his father looked over her should her a relieved smile.

"Oh, Fred, my baby, we're so glad you're alright." His mother gushed. "When McGonagall told us what happened, I... But don't you worry darling, everything's alright now, you're going to be just fine. I promise."

"Good to see you awake son, you gave us quite a scare there for a while." Arthur said with a smile.

Despite everything, Fred couldn't help but smile slightly at his parents. After everything that had happened, it was great to see them. Plus, now looking at them Fred was completely convinced that all his siblings must be okay. There was nothing in his parents eyes other than pure joy and relief to see him okay, no lingering grief that would have accompanied it if he'd lost a sibling while he was asleep. And since his parents had come to considered Harry and Hermione as surrogate children over the years, they must both be okay as well. It was a load off Fred's shoulders, that was for sure. 

But... something seemed wrong. Fred couldn't quite put his finger on what, but something seemed different about his parents. Looking at them, he felt like he was missing something, and that he should know what it was, but he just couldn't quite figure out what.

"How are you feeling, Mr Wealsey?" Pomfrey asked before Fred could figure it out. Oh well, it likely wasn't that important, just as long as they were safe.

"Like a wall fell on me." Fred decided to joke. Then mentally winced at the poor attempt at humour. Damn, even George's 'Holey' joke was better than that. He guessed he should have cut his brother some slack, as being injured in battle by Death Eaters clearly caused even the greatest jokesters to loose their gifts. He just hoped, for the future of WWW, that it was temporary.

Madame Pomfrey smiled, making Fred once again think she must be doped up on something if even that lame joke was enough to make her smile. Before he could say anything about his theory, however, Pomfrey spoke.

"Well, Mr Wealsey, I'd say considering that you were hit my lightning that having a wall fall on you would actually be a step up."

 

WHAT!?!

Fred couldn't even speak, he was so shocked. Hit by lightning? He was hit by lightning? But he couldn't remember any Death Eaters using lightning spell, and besides he clearly remembered having a wall fall on him. What was Madam Pomfrey talking about lightning for unless...

And suddenly Fred remembered the last thing that had happened in the dream.

As quickly as he could with his whole body telling him that any form of movement was a bad idea, Fred looked around the rest of the infirmary. Aside from him, it was empty of all patients, and as clean and perfectly ordered as usual. Unless he was asleep for a very long time, there was no way injuries from the battle Fred remembered being in had been treated in this room, and if he'd been asleep that long you would think he'd have been moved to St Mungo's by now.

Quickly Fred turned his eyes away from the rest of the infirmary and back to his parents. This time, Fred was able to tell what was different about them. They looked younger. Not by much granted, seeing as they were wizards and magic caused wizards to age much slower once they hit maturity. But the differences were still there once one knew where to look. The few less grey hairs that his mother had developed in the last few years. The few more hairs on his father's head, who had been steadily going bald for a while now. Not to mention the stress lines than one develops from living in a war zone for so long were no where to be seen.

Could the dream have been real? Could he really have travelled back in time?

'About time you figured that out.' an amused voice said, seemingly within Fred's own head, causing the boy to start.

'Fate?' Fred asked mentally, feeling somewhat stupid about doing so.

'Who else?' The voice answered back. 'Glad to see you’re not swimming in DeNile anymore. Welcome back to you're fourteen year old self. Anyway, we'll talk later, but for now I think you better answer your mother before she freaks out any more than she already is.' 

With that, Fate fell silent, and Fred somehow got to idea that she was leaving for the moment. Deciding to take her advice, he turned his attention back to his mother, who like Fate said was steadily getting more and more upset.

"Fred, baby are you okay? Answer me!"

"I'm fine mum." Fred said quickly. "It's just that it kind of hit me all of a sudden, that it wasn't a dream, you know?"

Instantly, Molly calmed down and looked quite sympatric.

"Yes, well, that's perfectly understandable Mr Wesley." Madam Pomfrey said. "You've been through something very few wizards ever have or ever will, and came out of it remarkably unscathed. I've already given you potions to repair the last of the damage done by the lightning strike. You'll be quite sore for the next few hours, but with any luck you should be able to go back to class by the day after tomorrow. You'll have to stay here in the infirmary until then, of course, but I'm sure your brother and the rest of your friends will be happy to bring you your homework for you to do until then."

Fred nodded, though internally he was expecting that George would probably be doing him a favour by not bringing him the homework. Of course, considering that he was mentally twenty years old, it wasn't like fourth year work would be that hard anyway, but that was besides the point.

"Where is George anyway?" Fred asked. "You'd think that with his only twin brother being hit by lightning and all, he'd be here, the wanker."

"Fred, watch your language." Molly instantly scolded. "And George is in class, of course, it is a Wednesday afternoon after all."

"I expect he'll be here to see you soon, son." Arthur added. "George has been stopping by after every class all day, along with the rest of your siblings, Lee, and the Quidditch team. They're all very upset about what happened, we were barely able to get them to leave last night and go to bed, even after Pomfrey said you'd be fine."

Fred sort of drifted off into his thoughts after that. Fortunately, his parents just assumed he was still tried with his magic working so hard on healing him - apparently Madam Pomfrey had warned them this could happen - and after a while left him 'to get some sleep', as now that they knew for certain that he would be okay they needed to get back to the Burrow and work respectively. Fred didn't really mind, as he had way too much on his mind to think about right then.

He was back in time. Six bloody years back in time. Something that even for wizards seemed impossible. Now what the hell was he supposed to do? He was supposed to change history and all that, and save countless lives, but how the hell was he supposed to do all that? When Fate had first told him her plan, Fred got caught up in the excitement of it all, and answered that'd he'd do it without thinking about it. But now that he was here, he was completely lost. He didn't even know exactly when he was, just that it was somewhere in his forth year. How was he supposed to change the world as a forth year student?

'Oh, stop panicking' Fate's voice suddenly said in his head. 'Don't worry, you're not alone in this. I've got a plan.'

'Oh yeah?' Fred asked sarcastically despite the fact that he was immensely relieved to hear Fate's voice again. 'Seeing as your last plan involved me being hit by lightning, excuse me for not jumping for joy.'

'It was only a little lightning bolt, you'll be fine.' Fate said dismissively. 'Besides, it'll be needed later to explain your newfound powers.'

'What newfound powers?' Fred demanded. He thought she had said something about new powers before she sent him back, but he was too busy focusing on the whole lightning thing at the time to pay attention to it.

'Oh, you're going to love this.' Fate said, and Fred could all but hear the smirk in her voice. 'You'll be quite busy this year, and very other year until Voldemort is finally defeated I'm afraid. But before we get around to all that, you'll be focusing on something much, much more fun. You'll be playing a year long, mentally scaring prank on Lockhart.'

And all of a sudden, Fred was all ears.


	4. Chapter 3

DISCLAIMER: Harry Potter Belongs To J.K. Rowling and not to me. I make no profit off this story, so don’t sue. Really, don’t sue, it’ll be a waste of your time anyway seeing as I’m broke.

CHAPTER 3

'I got to say, Fate, I'm still not completely sold on this prank idea of yours.' Fred said two days later. Madam Pomfrey had finally released him this morning, and he was currently heading down to breakfast and to start working on what Fate insisted would be the first stage of their master plan to change history. 'Really, I much rather like my idea of switching the flop's cologne with an animal aphrodisiac and sneaking some of Hagrid's pets into his office.'

'You can do that too in a couple of days.' Fate answered. 'Seriously, add all the extra pranks on you want, but you need to make sure to use my plan first. We pull this off this morning, and the consequences will help with every other stage of our plan for years to come. If we don't, you know Dumbledore will never take you as seriously and attempt to thwart you at every turn.'

'Yeah, yeah.' Fred groaned. 'Seriously though, can't you just hit me with lightning again or something? It's sure to be less painful than...'

'No, and stop asking.' Fate cut Fred off, already knowing what he was going to say after two days of listening to the same complaint over and over. 'You agreed to be my Avatar on earth, I brought you back to life and sent you back in time, so suck it up and do what your Deity tells you.'

"I should have just stayed dead, would have been a lot less painful." Fred muttered under his breath as he finally reached the doors to the Great Hall.

Despite his grumbling, Fred was truly happy to be back. Honestly, even with the knowledge that he'd died and the fact that he had an actual Deity talking in his head, it still didn't quite sink into Fred that this was all actually happening until about an hour after his parents had left, when the hospital wing was invaded by his friends and siblings. Apparently they had found out he was awake, and refused to let Madam Pomfrey kick them out until they were good and satisfied that he was okay. Not, that Madam Pomfrey seemed to be putting up much of a fight for once. Seemed she felt that being struck by lightning was one justifiable reason to let her patients have visitors for more than a few minutes, because she didn't try to get rid of them. Of course, that didn't stop her from sending dark looks at Wood several times, and muttering not so quietly about dangerous sports, and the sheer stupidly of scheduling training in the rain for hours where one was sure to get sick if nothing else.

All his siblings were there, as well as the Quidditch team, Lee and Hermione. At the sight of them, looking so young and innocent - if not more than a little worried about him - hit Fred hard. 

Angelina was there, the same Angelina who had fled England with her family when Voldemort's ministry targeted her half blood father for daring to dirty his line more and marrying her muggle mother. 

Wood, who had worked so hard in the underground movements trying to protect muggleborns, only to disappear without a trace several months ago (from Fred's point of view anyway) in a raid gone wrong. 

Lee, who had been forced to constantly keep moving for months, never staying in one place more than a few days, while he struggled to keep the public informed with his Potterwatch. 

His sweet little sister Ginny, who had been so bravely defying the Carrows for months to protect the younger students at Hogwarts despite how badly she was punished for it. 

Percy, his brother who had seen the light at last, just in time to fight by his side in the final battle. 

Ron and Hermione, who he had not seen in months as the struggled to complete the task Dumbledore at intrusted them with. 

Harry, poor little Harry, who may very well be the one who had suffered most of all. Who had unfairly been singled out as both a savour and a destroyer by the unforgiving and in many ways undeserving public. 

And George. There was George, his beloved twin, standing there with both ears and a smile on his face that was trying to hide how scared he'd been and how relieved to see that Fred was really awake and alright. The George that Fred had nearly left behind.

Fortunately everyone was so busy telling Fred how glad they were that he was okay in the first few minutes that they didn't notice that he couldn't quite bring himself to talk around the lump in his throat. And if anyone noticed the way he was trembling, they just put it down to the after effects of the lightning strike. 

By the time the group had finally left, Fred had recovered enough to fake his way through the get together, pretending to be every bit as carefree as ever. But underneath the facade, all the while Fred was making a promise to himself, that he would do everything in his power to protect the people in front of his and others he cared about from the future he knew was coming. Now that he knew what was at stake, he would do anything for them. Anything. Even if it meant...

Fred allowed himself one last shutter at what he knew was coming, before he opened the door and enter the Great Hall.

As Pomfrey had, as expected, insisted on giving Fred one last check up before releasing the boy from her domain he was somewhat late to breakfast and the Great Hall was already mostly full. Not only with students, but staff as well Fred realised after a quick glance at the Head Table. Every single staff member save Pomfrey (who Fred knew was still in the infirmary) and Finch (who no one cared about anyway) was there. Including the one member of the staff Fred had been hoping wouldn't be there. Damn. Looks like there wouldn't be any putting this off for one more day. 

Sighing to himself, and resigning himself to the inevitable, Fred started towards the Gryffindor table where he could see his twin sitting across from the Golden Trio and just slightly down where their sister was talking to a girl in her year. 

Percy, Fred noticed with some amusement, was at the Ravenclaw table talking to Penelope Clearwater and trying to pretend there wasn't anything between them than casual friends and fellow Prefects. Fred remembered how in his 'old future' (as he had decided to call it), Percy had broken up with Penny not too long after he started working at the Ministry, as Percy had been becoming more and more of a ministry stooge, something that Penny had hated every bit as much as Fred and their family had. Maybe this time round Fred might be able to stop that from happening. How, he wasn't sure yet, but he had a few yet years to figure it out anyway.

"Fred!" George called out happily when he was almost at the table. "Finally escaped did you?"

"After one last round of torture this morning, yes." Fred said with a grin as he sat down and started pilling food onto his plate.

Across from Fred, Hermione shock her head in disbelief at him. "I'm glad you’re okay Fred. I can't believe you're up and about after only two days! If a muggle had been hit by lightning like that, they'd be dead for sure!"

"I'm glad I'm okay too, 'Mione, but can we please not say the 'D' word right now." Fred said, noticing the way George's face paled at the reminder of how close he'd come to loosing his brother. Fred suspected George was far more upset about him being hurt than he was. Granted, George was also missing the whole 'travelling back in time and becoming Fate's Avatar' story. But still, remembering how scared Fred had been to hear about George's injury over Little Whinging, Fred knew all to well how George must fell after almost loosing his twin like that. Reminding George how close Fred had come to death (if Fate wasn't involved anyway) could not be doing the boy any good.

Hermione eyes flickered over to George, and seeing what Fred was seeing quickly changed the subject to schoolwork. Fred, naturally, zoned out after a few seconds of this and stayed that way until he heard another voice speak up over his shoulder. One he would have recognised anywhere, despite the man the voice belonged to dieing several years ago as Fred reckoned time.

"Ah, Mr. Weasley, I'm so glad you're able to join the rest of the school again. You had us quite worried young man."

"Had me quite worried too, Headmaster, don't think I'll be doing that again if I can help it." Fred said as he turned around to find himself looking directly at a long white, almost fluffy thing. He had to tilt his head up quite a bit to look into Dumbledore's twinkling blue eyes. Damn it all, he knew he was sitting down and all, but come on, just how short was he at fourteen? He better hit his growth spurt soon.

Dumbledore just chuckled. "No, I don't imagine you will be Mr. Weasley. But speaking on this topic, I would just like to say that if you notice anything different in your magic in the next few days, to please go to Madam Pomfrey, Professor McGonagall or even myself immediately."

"Different in what way, Headmaster?" George spoke up before Fred could. "I thought Madam Pomfrey said he was okay?"

"And I'm sure he is, Mr. Weasley." Dumbledore quickly and soothingly said to the boy who had been steadily growing more frantic. "Our Medi-witch is very through after all. I simply meant that sometimes wizards and witches who experience such, shall we say, extreme circumstances occasionally see an increase in their magical powers. Not always, of course, but sometimes. If Frederick here finds that there is, a few extra lessons to help keep his newfound powers in control should be all that is needed. Naturally, it is far more likely that your brother will find his magic just the same as it always was, but I felt he should be prepared just in case something is different."

"Oh." George said, quickly calming down once again. Fred felt a flash of guilt that his beloved twin was this upset by everything, but quickly pushed it okay as best he could. Long run, the worry George must have felt seeing Fred be hit by lightning, while traumatising, would have to be better than loosing Fred completely to Death Eaters in a couple of years.

"Well, Misters Weasley, I suppose I best let you get back to your breakfast now. I would just like to say one last time, Mr. Fred Wealsey that I am very glad you are okay. Very few wizards have ever been struck by lightning like you have. It was such a very rare occurrence, and one I am ever so happy that you were able to walk away from so unscathed."

"Quite right Headmaster." Another, much more annoying voice said, as the Great Pounce himself started walking up the aisle between the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables. "A wizard being hit by lightning has statically as much chance of surviving as one hit by the Transylvanian Tromignacation Curse. I've never been hit by lightning, but I have been hit by the Tromignacation Curse, right painful business that was. I was very lucky to survive that time, though of course luck was helped along greatly by..."

Lockhart kept on talking, but Fred wasn't paying any attention. Not that he would have been paying attention in normal circumstances anyway, but right now he really wasn't paying attention because something else was taking up all his focus. Namely, the weird, tingling feeling that seemed to be taking over his whole body. It was almost like pins and needles, only not, and for some strange reason seemed to be strongest in his mouth. Whatever it was, Fred didn't like it.

'Stop fighting me, I'll only be a minute.'

'Fate?'

'Who else? Stage two of our, well my master plan is a go. Just sit back and enjoy the ride?'

Before Fred had a chance to say anything else, he felt his body lunge forward without any prompting from him. He hand reached out to grab Dumbledore's arm, his eyes locked directly on Lockhart. Then, before Fred really had any time to even properly think about what the hell was happening, he felt his mouth open and words came spilling out of his mouth in a voice that he could barely recognise as his own.

"The Heart of Lies stands near. Thief of Triumphs, Thief of Glory, Thief of Lives. Soon shall his False Fame come to an end. Before the snow melts Truth will be revealed, and the Heart of Lies will face Justice for his crimes. The Heart of Lies stands near, but not for long."

As soon as he finished speaking, Fred quickly found himself back in control of his body just as quickly as he had lost it. The Great Hall had fallen scarily silent. Quickly looking around, Fred noticed far too many eyes looking at him in shock, though in the case of Lockhart, that shock seemed to be fighting with a slowing but steadily growing fear.

"What, what just happened?" Fred demanded hoarsely, his throat feeling way too dry and sore, like he was just getting over a very bad head cold. He had pretty good idea what had just happened, of course, but he was hoping he was wrong. Because if he wasn't, then nothing could save him from...

And then the scariest thing Fred had ever encountered, including the entirety of the war in his 'old future' happened.

Trelawney squealed like a little girl and came flying down the aisle to hug him. Actually hug him!

"A Seer! A real Seer! Oh, this is marvellous! When Headmaster Dumbledore mentioned at the last staff meeting that your accident might unlock some new powers in you, I never even dared hope for this!"

"Sybill please calm down." McGonagall spoke up then from the Head Table, sounded like she was still a little shook up. "There is no way of knowing that that was a real prophecy. It's possible, dare I say even likely, that it was just another of Mr. Weasley's ideas for a prank."

"Oh, pish posh, Minerva." Trelawney snapped back. "I'm sure even you could have felt the energy running through Mr. Weasley here when he made that prophecy. That was no prank; that was the word of Fate itself, I'm sure of it! Our dear boy here might very well be one of the strongest seers in decades if not longer, if his first very prophecy was anything to go by. That was your first prophecy, wasn't it my dear?"

"Err, yes?" Fred said uncertainly, praying to every deity out there that she would let go of him soon. Well, every deity except Fate anyway. She was the one who had got him into this mess in the first place, and he suspected she was currently sitting back and laughing at him right now.

"Well, we will have to get you started in Divination right away!" Trelawney said happily, leaning back slightly but to Fred everlasting dismay not letting him go completely. "You are a forth year, correct? You can come to my next class after lunch... but no, you would have so much to catch up on and with such a strong gift you would already need more attention that the rest of my students as it is. It simply wouldn't be fair to them. Well, there's nothing else to do, I'll just have to give you some private lessons in my own time. I'll have to talk with your other teachers to compare both our schedules and see where the best times for us to get together would be. Don't you worry, my dear, I'll get you trained up in no time! Even if i have to give up my weekends for the foreseeable future to do it!"

"Weekends?" Fred yelped. Fate never said anything about giving up weekends when they discussed this plan!

"Oh, this will be so much fun!" Trelawney giggled, apparently still blissfully blind to Fred distress. "At last, I have a True Seer to teach! This is wonderful!" With that, Fred once again found himself trapped in her embrace with no chance to escape, and very little to even breathe.

This time he was sure he heard Fate laughing at him.


	5. Chapter 4

DISCLAIMER: Harry Potter Belongs To J.K. Rowling and not to me. I make no profit off this story, so don’t sue. Really, don’t sue, it’ll be a waste of your time anyway seeing as I’m broke.

CHAPTER 4

It was several painfully long hours later that saw Fred collapsing in a heap on one of the thankfully free couches in the Gryffindor common room. Trelawney had been so excited to have a ‘real seer’ to teach that she hadn’t left him alone until they’d sorted out a new schedule for him that included private divination lessons, and then insisted on having a first lesson then and there. McGonagall had objected on the grounds that Fred had other classes that he had already missed several days of, but Dumbledore had been on Trewlanney’s side, unfortunately, thinking that it was important for Fred to at least get a better idea of what his new powers involved as soon as possible. As a result, he’d been stuck in close quarters, alone, with Trelawney for almost the entire day (due to a lack of interest in Divination in students this year, Trelawney only had one, late class to teach on Friday which meant she was perfectly free for several hours for Fred’s benefit, wasn’t that wonderful?) At least he’d gotten to skip charms and transfiguration. Losing his own after lunch free period was a much bigger let down, and why, oh why did Trewlanney’s one actual class of the day have to coincide with Potions? As if his day wasn’t bad enough, they had to add Snape into the mix? 

Fate, Fred had decided, was an extremely cruel mistress and she sure as hell better be setting things up to reward him handsomely for all this!

The oh so long lesson with Trelawney itself was rather different that Fred had expected it would be based in the pained descriptions he’d received from various friends and family members over the years… Fred guessed she must set things up different for normal students she wanted to impress from actual seers she wanted to teach. There was no cloying incense, and Trelawney wasn’t fluttering around proclaiming death every few minutes. Instead she sat down and spent hours upon hours telling Fred all about the honour and responsibilities of being a seer, the history of various seers she knew off the top of her head and how they’d changed history (her great-great grandmother Cassandra Trelawney being heavily featured of course), and a sort-of brief overview of the various types of divination she hoped to impart on him during their future lessons. In all, it would have been almost tolerable if Trelawney hadn’t still been so excited she was regularly break off into giggles and proceed to hug him again!

There really should be a law against teachers hugging students. Maybe he should suggest it to Percy if he insisted on getting involved in that cesspool they called the ministry again, it had to be a better contribution to society than regulating cauldron-bottom-thickness, right?

Anyway, the point was it had been a long, painful day that had lead him to here; lying facedown on the couch in a pile of misery while his loving twin brother looked down on him partly in sympathy but mostly in amusement.

“Rough day, brother?” George asked. To most he would probably sound sincere, but Fred knew him well enough to know that the wanker was laughing on the inside.

“Trelawney is a demon.” Fred answered back, his voice partly muted by the pillow he was half-heartedly trying to suffocate himself with. “An evil, giggling, way too touchy demon who should never be allowed among students at all, let alone for hours at a time.”

“That bad, huh?” George asked, not even trying to hide his amusement now.

“There should be a law against teachers hugging students.” Fred voiced his earlier thoughts.

“There is.” A new yet familiar voice spoke up then. Fred looked up from his attempts to smother himself – no doubt Fate would stop him anyway, after she spent so much efforts getting him into the mess to begin with – to see that Hermione had wondered over, with Ron and Harry right behind her. “At least there is in the muggle world. There’s a code that all teachers have to legally follow. If they don’t, and I’m pretty sure hugging students the way Trelawney was hugging you before wasn’t, then they can get reported to the Board of Education and get into all kinds of trouble to the point of being banded from ever working as a teacher again or even jail time if the offense is bad enough.”

Well, wasn’t that a lovely idea, and Fred could off the top of his head think of several teachers he’s like to report to this ‘Board of Education’ if only they had a equivalent in the magical world. Clearly the muggles were on to something, his father was so right when he said most muggles are far smarter than most wizards give them credit for.

“Was it really that bad, Fred?” Harry asked, looking truly concerned. Belatedly, Fred remembered that Harry had more cause than most to distrust teachers. Even this early in the Hogwarts career at least one teacher had tried to kill him and as Fred knew all too well it would only get worse. He better say something to get rid of the worry starting to form in Harry’s eyes before his pessimist behaviour took over and made him imagine something far worse than it already was.

“Not as bad as I feared it would be from the way I’ve heard others talk about Trelawney.” Fred admitted. “She was actually trying to teach me at least, instead of putting on a show the way I’m told she does with her other classes. And she didn’t even predict my death once! But she was so excited over the fact that apparently I’m now a seer that she kept giggling and trying to hug me every few minutes. And then after hours of that, she kicks me out in order to teach one of her regular classes, and I’m still stuck going to potions with a Snape who was not amused by the fact that the long walk from the North tower to the dungeons means I was a few minutes late!”

Well, the long walk and the fact that there was no way he would have been able to remember his schedule from six years ago off the top of his head like that. If Fate hadn’t jumped back into his head long enough to helpfully tell him where he needed to go before jumping out again before Fred could yell at her for putting him though that torture, he’s still probably be wondering the halls trying to figure out where he was needed.

That got rid of the building worry in Harry and got Fred a sympathetic look from him and his youngest brother and even the pro-teacher Hermione. George on the other hand just snickered, the wanker, although Fred guessed he could give him at least a little leeway since he’d been stuck with Snape too.

“That aside, did you work a new schedule out Fred?” Hermione asked, Fred guessed to get the topic off Snape before anyone said anything she would feel obliged to scold them for.

“Yeah, she didn’t go through with the threat of taking away your weekends did she?” Ron asked sounding concerned and slightly horrified by the idea. 

Even George stopped laugh to hear Fred answer to that, as he hadn’t been able to ask him that before now. Not even the twins were dumb enough to risk Snape’s wrath by talking in class when he was already in a poor mood.

“No, thank Merlin.” Fred said, truly relieved for this small mercy. How was he expected to terrify the staff with his pranks if all his free time was spent in Trelawney’s stuffy tower? “I’ve officially lost my free periods on Tuesdays and Fridays, and my early finish on Mondays is now a thing of the past, but my weekends at least are safe.”

Hermione nodded. “Good thing you sorted that out so fast Fred. It would be awful if you had to give up another class to take divination or something, even with all you could learn now. What exactly does being a seer mean anyway? It sounds so exciting!”

“Not nearly as exciting as you would think.” Fred said with a groan, thinking of all his time in this second chance being lost in boring lessons he doubted he would ever need or use. “A lot of seer tricks are little more than fancy guess work, and there’s really no way to really predict when a true vision will hit, let alone force it without resorting to various potions which really shouldn’t be used on a person. A lot of it is just sitting back and waiting for visions to hit.”

“Then why do you need so many extra lessons?” Ron asked in confusion.

“Your guess is as good as mine.” Fred said with a shrug. “McGonagall seems to think they’re a waste of time, although from what I’ve seen and heard she’s never had any patience or trust in divination to begin with. Dumbledore however is big believer in prophecies and all that junk, so he’s pushing for the extra lessons too, and hence I’m stuck with them.”

Harry frowned slightly, seemingly thinking something over. “Isn’t it weird that you suddenly gain a random power like this? Didn’t Dumbledore say that wizards who are hit my lightening expand on their powers, not suddenly develop all new ones, or something like that? Shouldn’t you get a stronger version of some magic you already had if anything happened?”

Before Fred could think of anything to say to that, which probably been along the lines of ‘I don’t have a clue, why are you asking me I’m no expert’ Ron spoke up, sounding weirdly excited.

“Maybe Fred did have some seer powers before and no one noticed?” Ron asked, looking somewhat proud of himself like he’d just solved a mystery no one else had even noticed. “he always knew when I was trying to prank him back for whatever he’s done to me, and he always caught the quaffle no matter how I feinted when he was keeper when we played quidditch.”

Fred just looked at Ron like he was an idiot. He knew when Ron was trying, emphasises on the trying, to prank him because Ron was about as subtle as a bull in china shop and he was a professional prankster, it wasn’t exactly hard. And really, Ron couldn’t feint for shit, of course Fred had always been able to catch the quaffle, it was a good thing Ron had eventually gone for Keeper, it was the only position he could actually play. And he was trying to use this as examples of a budding seer talent? Really, Ron would have to do better than that if he was going to convince anyone, and pull out something like…

“And last year before we went to Hogwarts he kept telling me if I got into Gryffindor I’d have to wrestle a troll! Come Halloween we we’re all in Gryffindor and what were we doing? Troll wrestling in the girl’s bathroom!”

Something like that, Fred thought staring at Ron in disbelief. Did he really say that? From the way all four of them were staring at him now he did, or at least they believed he did. That was too weird.

Whether it was true or not, both Ron and George seemed to really get into the idea now and were comparing times when Fred seemingly had ‘known’ something would happen and reacted accordingly. None of which Fred could recall off the top of his head, but he was sure there was a better, simpler idea that him being a ‘budding seer’ to explained them.

After a few minutes of listening to his brothers, as far as he was concerned, making fools of themselves with all their ‘proof’, Fred gave a mental shrug and dropped him head back onto his pillow. If they wanted to believe he had some kind of seer powers before, by all means let them. It couldn’t hurt after all, and it made them happy. Hell, it might even help make Dumbledore listen to him when the time came to really starting messing with the plans the old Goat had made and seemed stubbornly determined to keep.

In the meantime he had better things to do, like get started on planning all the ‘chaos and mayhem’ Fate wanted him to inflict. He’d no doubt have to get George involved at some point in the near future, his brother was always the best at coming up with escape routes and such after all, but for now he could at least get started on sorting out some ideas.

After all, if he was going to have to suffer through the rest of Fate’s plans, he saw as well wasn’t missing out on the fun bits of it. Now, how was he going to smuggle Fluffy into Lockhart’s office without Hagrid making a fussing over his ‘beloved puppy’ going missing, and how was he going to get Lockhart to enter said office with noticing until it was too late? 

Hum, decisions, decisions.


	6. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m sorry I’ve been gone for so long, I’m afraid I have no excuse save my muse apparently went on holiday, but I promise I have not given up on this story. This is only a short chapter, but it is something to keep you going until I write the next one, which I will try to make soon.

DISCLAIMER: Harry Potter Belongs To J.K. Rowling and not to me. I make no profit off this story, so don’t sue. Really, don’t sue, it’ll be a waste of your time anyway seeing as I’m broke.

 

CHAPTER 5

After much, very sad, deliberations Fred finally had to admit defeat on his idea of sneaking Fluffy into Lockhart’s office. However, after enlisting his dear twin brother’s help he was able to do a modified version of the plan, which instead of one massive animal involved serval smaller ones – mostly borrowed from Hagrid and the CoMC class. They’d tried to ‘enlist’ Mrs Norris too, but this unfortunately resulted server scratching and almost getting caught by Finch, and so the devil cat was scrapped from the plan – being let hidden in various cabinets in the DADA classroom which were magically set to open ten minutes into the second year Gryffindor/Hufflepuff class. Fate managed to significantly work her way back into Fred’s good books when she informed him of where Hagrid kept the animal aphrodisiac to help ‘encourage’ his critters come breeding time and when it would be unguarded, as well as when Lockhart’s private rooms would be clear as well. He still hadn’t quite forgiven her for the lightning incident, or setting Trelawney on him but seeing Lockhart being chased down the corridor by various creatures all intent on humping whatever part of him they could reach did bring her very close.

He and George were in full agreement that the week’s detention and the disapproving looks of various female students was so worth it. Come to think of it, McGonagall did seem to go pretty light on the punishment. Ha, guess the other teachers near hatred of the flop must already be starting.

Much to Fred’s (and George’s) delight this was just the first of many successful pranks that took place in the next few weeks, all aimed at the smiling annoyance. The prank with the trick toothpaste was particularly satisfying, Lockhart didn’t smile nearly so much the three days he had green teeth. It was during this time that Fred fully forgave Fate, and in fact started to consider her one of his closest, yet strangest, friends. Wonderful deity that she was, she was all too willing to assist in the plan to prank Lockhart into insanity. She was without a doubt the best lookout ever, even the sacred Marauders Map could not compare. And while she never came up with the plans themselves, she did offer little suggestion which would make said plans ‘More Likely To Work’. 

When it came from Fate, and said in that tone, it certainly dissevered capitals.

The weirdness that came from discovering Fred was suddenly a Seer was starting to fade by now. George didn’t much care once it was established that it hadn’t changed his brother beyond giving him a couple of extra classes. In fact, George seemed to pretty much like him being a Seer now as it – as George jokingly put it – made his pranking instincts better than ever. The teachers (aside from the obvious exception of Trelawney) for the most part seemed content to ignore this new side to Fred, aside from McGonagall giving him a stern warning his first class back with her that his new addition to his schedule did not excuse him from doing his work in his other classes. Even his parents hadn’t responded much besides a letter from his mother telling him she was so proud of his new talent – though what exactly didn’t done to be proud of he wasn’t quite sure – and that he better work hard to better hone his new ‘gift’. A lecture that Percy naturally had to repeat in more long winded verbalism, but then again Percy would find any excuse to lecture the twins some days.

Other than that, and few students looking at him funny the first couple of days after his first ‘prophecy’ most of the school seemed to forget the sudden revelation that one Fred Weasley was suddenly a Seer. The fact that someone, most likely a Ravenclaw, pointed out that most Seers didn’t have more than a few true prophecies in their lifetime, and Fred not sprouting off anymore that the breakfast table probably helped calm everyone down quite significantly. Even Trelawney had calmed down slightly, content to simply smile blissfully at Fred when she saw him, as opposed to the giggling and – Merlin forbid – hugging. While still kind of creepy, Fred much preferred this arrangement.

There was only one person in the school who seemed unable to get used to this new change, and that was the Headmaster himself. Suddenly Dumbledore seemed to be around a lot more often, wandering the halls, needing to talk to teachers during class time (McGonagall at least was not amused by this, and even Dumbledore seemed unwilling to challenge Snape in his own domain), deciding to take a walk by the Quidditch Pitch seemingly every time Gryffindor was practicing (though never in a storm again, the look of George face the one time Oliver had suggested they do so scared even the fanatic off that idea. What a good, loving twin brother he had! He must have been taking lessons from Mum when Fred wasn’t paying attention.). And every time he did, Dumbledore would enviably stop and stare at Fred with the most intense look Fred had ever seen, like he was expecting the red head to start spouting off all the secrets of life right then and there. Fred found this even more disturbing than Trelawney’s near hero worship, but he knew it played into Fate’s plan when she was ready to move to the next step.

In all however, life didn’t seem all that different from what Fred remembered of his first time in forth year. Sure the classes were easier, but he’d always been at the top of class, when he bothered to apply himself anyway. The pranks were different, and he had an extra helper, but they were still pranks. Quidditch practice was toned down slightly, due to Oliver’s sudden wariness of George, but it was still Quidditch and still intense enough to scare most players away. And as for classes, well they were pretty much exactly the same only made even more boring form the fact that he’d done them all before. It was a good thing that Fred had always been one of the best in the class when he bothered to apply himself, or someone would have caught on by now that he knew everything the teachers were teaching them. As it was, Fred was acting extra lazy, which was so far doing a pretty good job hiding the extra knowledge he shouldn’t have.

Everything was pretty normal. Which was what Fred was probably finding the most strange about all this. Everything was too normal, too calm. He’d just come back from a time of civil war, where no one really trusted anyone. He’d lost track of the number of times his own family had held their wands on him and demanded he prove who he was. That had become the new normal for Fred, now with everyone being so carefree and happy all the time… it was much more disturbing than it probably should have been.

In a weird way, Fred was almost looking forward to when the damn monster would be released from the chamber. At least the added tension that would bring would make him feel more at home.

Speaking of which…

Halloween was tomorrow.


End file.
